“We have not given them permission. We have not permitted them to do that yet. We’re working with UMC now,” Deng said.

Last month, shareholders of UMC approved a company proposal to acquire the remaining 85 percent stake it doesn’t already own in He Jian for US$285 million. He Jian currently operates a factory making chips on eight-inch wafer in Suzhou, China.

Airlines to raise surcharges

Commercial airlines will raise their fuel surcharges by 20 percent beginning July 15 to offset higher costs of crude oil, the Civil Aeronautics Administration said on its Web site on Thursday.

The fuel levy on short-haul routes will be raised to US$15 per trip, while long-distance routes will be increased to US$39, the statement said.

The move is in response to a CPC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣中油) price increase for international aviation fuel, which was US$84.80 per barrel on July 1, up from the US$72.34 per barrel in June.

China Motor sees higher sales

China Motor Corp (中華汽車) may raise its annual sales estimate from the earlier prediction of 32,000 units as demand has increased, the company said yesterday.

China Motor sold 4,300 cars last month, beating its previous projection of more than 3,000 cars.

The latest government data released on Wednesday showed new vehicle sales grew 25.8 percent to 26,150 units last month from a year ago, and up 43.5 percent from May.

NT dollar on the rise

The New Taiwan dollar gained ground against the US dollar on the Taipei Foreign Exchange yesterday, rising NT$0.057 to close at NT$32.890. A total of US$545 million changed hands during the day’s trading.